As occupy Wall Street gains momentum, an effort to close consumer accounts from Bank of America is launched

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By: Rainforest Action Network2011-10-10

San Francisco

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Bank of America logo. Photo: Bank of America

Bank
customers around the country have an opportunity to show their discontent with
the big banks by pledging to close their Bank of America accounts as part of a
new effort launched today from Rainforest Action Network. The ‘not one more
dollar' pledges will be bundled-much like the big banks packaged mortgages for
sale-and presented to Bank of America executives in protest of the bank's
funding of coal, the country's number one contributor to climate change. (1)

"People
are fed up with Wall Street banks foreclosing on their homes, laying off
workers, hiking consumer fees, and bankrolling industries that are destroying
our planet," said Amanda Starbuck, director of Rainforest Action Network's
energy and finance program. "We need Bank of America to show leadership in
protecting the health of our economy and our communities."

The
list of grievances over Bank of America's behavior is a long. It has recently
announced it will charge customers $60 a year to use their debit cards at the
same time that the bank is laying off 30,000 employees. Bank of America is also
a leading forecloser of Americans' homes and the leading funder of coal
projects that are polluting our communities and wrecking the climate.

Over
the past two years, Bank of America has invested more than $4.3 billion in
coal. It is the biggest bank in the United States and the biggest
underwriter of the coal industry-bankrolling coal mining, infrastructure
investments and coal plants around the country. Coal fired power plants kill
between 13,000 and 34,000 people a year--as many as one person every 15
minutes.

"Corporate
power has infected our political system. The same interests that have blocked
federal action on climate change are being bankrolled by BoA to cook our
climate and spew pollution into our communities," said Starbuck. "Bank of
America's customers want the bank to take responsibility for the social and
environmental consequences of its lending practices, and this pledge is a way
for people to communicate that."

In
November, Rainforest Action Network will release a report that examines Bank of
America's coal investments and its claims to support environmental
responsibility. People can pledge to close their accounts or forswear the use
of Bank of America ATMs at http://ran.org/boapledge.

###

Notes
to the editor:

1. RAN
is demanding that Bank of America spend Not One More Dollar on coal. It's time
that the bank makes responsible investments in green energy solutions instead
of bankrolling the coal industry. RAN's demands include:

No
financing for companies pursuing new coal-fired power plants and life-extending
retrofits of existing coal-fired power plants.

No
financing for companies engaged in mountaintop removal coal mining.

No
financing for companies pursuing coal export infrastructure.

Shifting the balance of energy financing to support power generation that is
less threatening to our health and environment.